6 Beautiful Homestays in India for a Slow, Meaningful Travel Experience

Some places don’t just let you stay, they make you feel at home. You wake up to birds instead of alarms, sip chai made from ingredients grown a few steps away, and leave with stories you didn’t plan for.

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Across India, homestays are redefining what beautiful means. It’s no longer about luxury alone, but about where a place is rooted, who runs it, and how deeply it reflects its surroundings. 

From misty coffee estates to quiet backwaters and village farms, these homestays offer something hotels often can’t — a sense of belonging.

Here are some of the most beautiful homestays in India to add to your 2025 travel list, where the location shapes the stay, and the stay becomes the memory.

1. Srirangam Homestay, Shantiniketan — West Bengal

In the cultural heart of Shantiniketan, Srirangam Homestay feels like an extension of the town’s creative spirit — a perfect blend of art, culture and everyday life under one roof. 

Built in a South Indian architectural style, the house is filled with courtyards, art-lined walls and sunlit spaces that invite unhurried living. It was started by Shumon Sengupta and his wife, artist Ananya Banerjee Sengupta, who began hosting guests here in 2023, rooted in their love for arts and the legacy of their family’s deep ties with the town. 

What to do here:

• Walk through the Visva-Bharati campus and local art studios.
  
  

• Browse the in-house art gallery and interact with resident artists.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 5,000 – Rs 6,000 per night.

2. Antler Woods, Siswan — Punjab

Located on the edge of the Shivalik foothills near Siswan Dam, Antler Woods was started by Mickey Sidhu and Marina, who transformed a former family hunting lodge into a nature-first homestay. Spread across terraced land, the property is surrounded by forest trees, fruit orchards and wide open skies, with rooms that open out to uninterrupted green views.

Designed for slow living, it’s especially loved by birdwatchers and outdoor enthusiasts. Its beauty lies in the quiet — rustling leaves, birdsong at dawn, and a feeling of being gently immersed in the forest.

What to do here:

• Join guided forest and birding walks.
  
  

• Unwind with a book overlooking the landscape.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 12,000–Rs 13,000 per night.

3. The Paddyview Homestay, Kasargod — Kerala

Overlooking emerald paddy fields in North Malabar, The Paddyview Homestay (locally called Poothali) captures the slow, soothing rhythm of rural Kerala. Bought by Manoj Kumar in 2018 as a family retreat, it was opened to guests in 2021 along with his sister Sunitha and women from the village, turning it into a deeply community-run space.

Built using salvaged Mangalore tiles, antique furniture and Theyyam-inspired art, the home blends Kerala and Tulunadu traditions with warmth and purpose. What makes it beautiful is the sense of participation — meals cooked with local produce, stories shared freely, and days shaped by village life.

What to do here:

• Join village walks exploring farming, looms and local crafts.
  
  

• Enjoy slow, home-cooked Kerala meals made with village-sourced ingredients.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 6,500–Rs 7,000 per night.

4. Bungalow 1934, Coorg — Karnataka

Perched above Coorg’s misty valleys, Bungalow 1934 is wrapped in greenery — surrounded by rosewood, jackfruit and mango trees, with its grounds flowing seamlessly into the 70-acre Green Acres coffee estate. Arabica and Robusta coffee plants grow under a light canopy of silver oak, cedar and benteak, with pepper vines and cardamom plants quietly weaving through the landscape.

The ancestral home celebrates Kodava culture through its architecture and hospitality — thick stone walls, sloping tiled roofs and open verandahs that frame the outdoors. Here, beauty is found in slow walks under shaded trees, home-cooked Kodava meals, and conversations that make you feel less like a guest and more like family.

What to do here:

• Walk through coffee and spice plantations.
  
  

• Try traditional Kodava dishes cooked at home.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 7,000 – Rs 8,000 per person (often with meals).

5. Philipkutty’s Farm, Kumarakom — Kerala

Set on a 762-acre reclaimed island in the backwaters beside Vembanad Lake, Philipkutty’s Farm is a much-loved family homestay transformed from ancestral land into a hospitality space in 1999 by Vinod Mathew, building on the legacy of his forebears who reclaimed the island in the 1950s. 

Today, it is run by his daughter Anya Mathew, along with her mother Anu and grandmother Aniamma Philip, keeping tradition and farm life at its heart.

Surrounded by swaying coconut trees, nutmeg, cocoa, banana and spice plants, this working island farm offers a slower, more rooted way to experience the backwaters — far removed from the typical houseboat stay.

What to do here:

• Take peaceful sunset boat rides on Vembanad Lake or simply watch houseboats drift by.
  
  

• Join traditional Kerala cooking demonstrations using farm-grown produce.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 25,000–Rs 28,000 per night.

6. Pannadikadu Homestay, Palghat Gap — Kerala–Tamil Nadu border

Set near the biodiverse Palghat Gap, Pannadikadu Homestay opened to guests in January 2025, after the family — led by Thomas George and later joined by his son George — restored their century-old Tamil-style heritage granary, set amid 15 acres of mango orchards and flowering gardens.

Framed by Malayan banyan trees, plumerias and lush tropical plants under the wide Palghat sky, the homestay sits at a meeting point of farm life and forest edges. It’s a place steeped in culture, history and seasonal rhythms.

What to do here:

• Visit nearby forest reserves and scenic viewpoints around the Palghat Gap.
  
  

• Observe traditional farming routines, gardens and toddy-tapping practices.
  
  

Approximate cost: Rs 6,000–Rs 7,000 per night.

Why these homestays stand out

In a time of rushed itineraries and identical hotels, these homestays remind us that travel can still be slow, personal and rooted in local life. 

They support local communities, preserve heritage and offer travellers a chance to see India not as outsiders, but as temporary locals.

Sometimes, the most meaningful journeys begin simply by choosing where and how you stay.

Source:

‘The 10 most beautiful homestays in India we discovered in 2025’ by Condé Nast Traveller, Published on 2 December 2025.